Greens are part of a spectrum of color. To achieve a wonderful array of colors, you should be adding delightful blends of blues, purples, yellows, pinks, greens...the choice is yours! If you aren't dishing out a combination of SOME of these colors, your recipe is flawed. Remember- don't look at the finished product and think, "I can't do that!" It's like having a pie hit you in the face to look at the END result. It looks complicated! Combine your ingredients (colors) one at a time and your pie will turn out fine!

The black outline is just a guide and you should substitute a dark green or dark brown if you are drawing this on paper. This is only one of the many, many ways to paint a leaf-substitute in brown hues, or orange and red hues for fall leaves.

STEP ONE: (Above) Apply your base coats. We will eventually erase and blend over some of the colors, so picking medium shades is important for your base coats.

STEP TWO: (Above) Take the lower color (olive) and darken the stem area. Bring it around the left top, curving toward the upper outside of the leaf.

STEP THREE: (Above) You should be working wet on wet. (wet paint) Add dark blue and a bit of light blue where shown. Dark blue should streak around the curve at the top, but not even halfway toward the tip. The light blue DOES go all the way to the tip.

On the right side by the stem, the dark should barely start out from that area. Make the light blue much thicker on the top. (Expanded in the second photo.)

STEP FOUR: (Above) Add a medium green in the middle. Blend it into the stem, and take a small line of it up into the very tip.

STEP FIVE: (Above) Let's brighten the blues a bit. Add the bright blue and blend. Continue to next page.